While it is challenging to
find photographic records specific to the Chisholm Trail, the era is detailed
in photographs taken during the late 1800s and early 1900s on ranches across
Texas and the Southwest. One of the most renowned collections is from Texas
photographer Erwin E. Smith.

Born in 1886 at the
end of the cattle trail era, Smith grew up in Bonham, Texas. As a young man, he
worked on a number of ranches across the Southwest in addition to attending art
school in Chicago and Boston. He participated in all facets of ranch work as he
photographed what he considered to be the rugged realities and the romance of
life on the open range. The collection is now archived at the Amon Carter
Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, which along with the Erwin E. Smith
Foundation generously provided the Texas Historical Commission use in this
tour. The full
collection and a teaching guide can be viewed on their website.

Many other notable photograph
and artwork collections appear throughout the tour which can be independently
explored, including: